CBD news - Commercial Bank of Dubai

attijari
al youm
NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY COMMERCIAL BANK OF DUBAI - ISSUE 10 - September 2004
‘Modhesh’ Visits the
Bank’s Headquarters
New Branch in Al Awir
Dr Juma'a Khalfan Balhool:
“Faith and responsibility
are keys to success”
Honouring our top employees
Editorial
Team
Faisal Galadari
Badr Soueidan
Shahab Al Mur
Shamsa Al Suwaidi
Beena Kapadia
Areej Al Yousuf
Yusra Abdul Gaffar
Special Thanks to:
Masood Azhar
Kamal Bakri
Feryal Temsah
Secretary:
Saba Sultan
Editorial Consultant:
Mahmmod Alia
Designed by:
[email protected]
Message from the
Editorial Team
In a complex corporate world of the 21st century where every business
functions are closely linked with one another, the importance of team work
has become paramount. Gone are the days when people used to work in
silos and take pride of their individual achievements. In the new changed
corporate world, greater emphasis has been placed on Team Building. It is
important that we maintain and strengthen the customer supplier chain at
our work place. We all are either suppliers of services or internal customers
of our colleagues’ services. For example, a teller at the branch is the
internal customer of our IT Department. If he gets slow system response,
he may not be able to serve the external customer efficiently. Everything
we input ultimately becomes the output of someone at the other end who
in turn has to serve someone else. The only way we can accomplish
our collective goals and objectives is to understand our role in the
customer-supplier chain and make sure that we display exemplary team
work by performing our bit professionally, knowing that there is another
colleague of ours waiting for our prompt and quality input to produce
his/her output. Think about a rally where each athlete passes on the stick to
his/her colleague the minimum possible time to complete the race.
It is also important to remember that when a job is well done together as
a team, we do not forget to acknowledge each others’ contributions and
celebrate the team work together.
CONTENTS
Sheikha
Latifah
Awards
Banking
at Emarat
CBD’s Top
Employees
P.4
P.5
P.6
New Branch
in Al Awir
Nationals
Inducted
Sponsoring
DSS
P.8
P.11
P.12
3
GM’s views on Leadership
Leadership is a topic that has been researched, debated and written about; it transcends time, countries, cultures and
organisations. The topic has fascinated historians, politicians, writers, researchers, consultants and students alike.
There have been many hypotheses as to what makes a good leader, whether leaders are born or developed, and what
the common traits are, if any, amongst exemplary leaders. Then there is traditional leadership versus modern
leadership, transactional leadership versus transformational leadership.
Is leadership different from management? Should there be differentiation between the two? I personally think so.
All organisations, whether in the public sector or private sector, have two types of responsibilities to discharge:
Management of today – i.e. operational Leading towards / creating the future - i.e. directional
The first role of ‘management’ is required as there are performance expectations from customers, employees, shareholders, partners
(suppliers) and society.
The second responsibility of ‘leadership’ necessitates alignment of today’s set of activities from medium to long-term goals; that is, the future direction.
To maximise an organisation’s potential, it is critical to distinguish between leadership and management. Executives who think they are
leading when they are actually managing are -- unconsciously -- limiting the potential of the organisation and its people. One cannot consider
himself / herself a leader just because he or she is good at managing.
It is improper to compare leadership and management in terms of superior or inferior, simply because there is a clear-cut, complimentary
role for both a healthy and sustained development of any organisation. As leadership seeks to find a new direction, the management supports in
getting there effectively. Therefore while leaders devise new directions and new ways of doing things, managers execute current commands.
Creating the right culture of dual empowerment is the key. While managerial empowerment lets employees make decisions in the execution
of tasks, leadership empowerment expects employees to display leadership. Further, leaders are expected to create a positive environment so that
it is conducive to productivity and progress. Simultaneously, to ensure robust and healthy growth of the organisation, leaders create a ‘sense of
urgency’ and high level of accountability. This means that leadership should not be monopolised at the top but dispersed across different levels
of the organisation, leading to the creation of a community of leaders. In the 21st century environment, which is becoming increasingly
complex and operates on a canvas of fast-changing landscapes, successful organisations will be the ones that encourage leadership from most, if
not all, employees rather than restrict this critical role only to managers.
Yaqoob Yousuf Hassan, General Manager, Business Group
Embracing Childhood Creativity
Commercial Bank of Dubai participated
in supporting the sixth Sheikha Latifa Bint
Mohammed Childhood Creativity Award,
in line with the bank’s mission to support
and encourage educational activities.
HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Bin
Rashid Al Maktoum honoured the
sponsors and presented them with the
awards and letters of appreciation in a
ceremony held on 11 June 2004 at the
Al Multaka Hall at the Dubai International
Forum Centre. VIPs, managers of local
authorities, judges of the competitions
and parents of the winning children
attended the ceremony.
Ibrahim Abdullah, Deputy General
Manager, Administration and Finance,
expressed the bank's delight in sponsoring
the award, and said that this reflects the
bank's keen interest in supporting creative
childhood in our communities and caring
for and developing children’s talents.
He added: “We take this opportunity to
thank HH Sheikha Hind Bint Maktoum Bin
Juma Al Maktoum, Chairperson of the
award, HH Sheikha Latifa Bint Mohammed
Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, sponsor of the
award, and HH Sheikha Amina Bint Humaid
Al Tayer, President of the Dubai Women’s
Association, for their continuous support.”
CBD Launches ‘Attijari Online’ Banking Service
Within the framework of its diligent efforts
for developing its electronic services, CBD
has announced a web-based banking services
"Attijari Online", allowing customers to
review their accounts and to electronically
perform their banking transactions through
logging on to www.cbdonline.ae
Mr. Mahmoud Hadi, Assistant General
Manager, Systems & Operations, stated that
issuing "Attijari Online" banking aims at
serving customers in a way keeping up with
4
their contemporary and banking needs
through the provision of technology for
performing their transactions around the
clock, without restrictions of official working
hours or visiting branches.
Mr. Mahmoud Hadi explained that
"Attijari Online" banking is distinguished
with a wide variety of services, enabling the
customers to review their bank accounts, to
obtain account statements, and to separately
review their credit card accounts. He clarified
that the Bank shall add a number of other
services at a later stage. This free service will
be offered to customer by subscription.
Mr. Mahmoud Hadi concluded that the
last period witnessed enormous
developments in the Bank drive in the
technological field, as this services is deemed
as a continuation of the strategy adopted by
the Bank, represented in utilizing the latest
technology in order to provide the best
services to customers.
Banking
at Emarat
Service Stations
Faisal Galadari said: “We are proud to be
associated with leading establishments
such as Emarat. This agreement will help
us expand our ATM network, and build on
its commitment to provide value-added
and customer-focused services. We look
forward to extending our partnership with
Emarat in the future.”
On 30 June 2004 Customer Service staff
were familiarised with our new product
‘Zawaj’ – the Marriage Savings Plan and
its benefits and features. This special
product has been created to help
customers save for their wedding
expenses and encourage individuals to
accumulate deposits. The Zawaj Savings
Plan is a reflection of CBD’s commitment
to helping the community and offering
solutions to fulfill their needs.
Commercial Bank of Dubai is partnering
with Emarat to set up ATM machines at
key Emarat service stations, namely
Al Durra, Al Garhoud and Al Hassa, and at
Jebel Ali station at a later date, in a step that
aims to expand this service to cover most
Emarat service stations across the UAE.
Mr Faisal Galadari, Assistant General
Manager, Retail and Commercial, and
Mr Rashid Bin Rahma Al Shamsi, General
Manager of Emarat, signed the agreement.
Preparing for
The Big Day
CSR to
shine through
To promote the Credit Card Summer
Promotion for CBD customers, the Retail
and Commercial Department has
organised a three-month campaign for
Customer Service Representatives (CSRs).
A gold prize will be awarded every month
to the highest performing Customer
Service Representative.
Standing Beside
the Businesswoman
CBD participated in the General Assembly
of Dubai Businesswomen Council meeting,
held on 29 June 2004, at the Dubai
Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Malika Al Hashimi, Manager of the
Ladies Section at the bank’s
Headquarters, gave a presentation in
which she stressed the bank's support to
businesswomen and the provision of
maximum facilities to satisfy the needs of
this sector, which plays an important role
in the economic structure of Dubai.
CBD Announces Seventh Winner of ‘Mustaqbali’ Draw
Gholamabbas Zarei Gerashe was the lucky
winner of AED10,000 in the seventh
‘Mustaqbali’ draw held on 29 July 2004 in
Sharjah Branch.
Gholamabbas’s father had opened the
Mustaqbali account since its launch. He said,
“I was interested in Mustaqbali from the
beginning as it represented an opportunity to
start saving, especially when at every step of
our adult life we have to endure financial
pressures like children’s education, marriage,
home ownership or any other life aspirations.
For these reasons, I was determined to open a
Mustaqbali account for my son.”
“I would also like to emphasise the
importance of planning our finances to ensure
that our children optimise their hard-earned
income and enjoy future financial security.”
5
CBD Recognises Top Employees
An impressive ceremony was recently
organised by Commercial Bank of Dubai
to honour its top performers and winners
of the Staff Suggestion Scheme.
The Outstanding Performance Awards
form part of a series of initiatives,
launched by the bank, to inculcate a
performance-driven culture. A total of 41
awards were presented for outstanding
performance in several different
categories, including Best Head Office
Manager, Best Branch Manager, Best
Headquarters Department, Best Branch,
Long and Dedicated Service and
Best Service Providers (internal and
external customers).
For the Staff Suggestion Scheme, a total
of 19 winners were announced, based on
the highest number of accepted
suggestions (Individual, Branch and Head
BEST HEADQUARTERS MANAGER:
Ahmed Shaheen
I would like to share this Award with my team,
without the support of whom none of what we have
accomplished as a department in 2003 would have
been attainable.
After all, a bank is as good as its managers are, and a
manager is as good as his team is.
Ahmed Shaheen
Assistant General Manager - Credit and Risk
6
Office Department), the highest number of
evaluated suggestions as well as individual
winners for accepted suggestions.
Yaqoob Yousuf Hassan, General
Manager, Business Group, and Ibrahim
Abdulla, Deputy General Manager,
Administration and Finance, applauded
the award winners and urged all staff
members to scale greater heights in
pursuit of organisational goals.
BEST BRANCH MANAGER:
Marwan Ibrahim
I strongly believe that a manager's success is based on
four factors, the first one being the manager's belief in the
strength of the organisation and its management. The
manager’s confidence in himself and his ability to
successfully reach his goals is the second. The manager's
trust in the talents and abilities of his team has the highest
effect on the success of the organisation. Last, but not the
least, we must not forget the role the bank’s clients play in
the success of the manager.
Marwan Ibrahim
Manager, Ajman Branch
BEST BRANCH:
Sheikh Zayed Road Branch
We are proud of being recognised by
this award and consider it as a
motivation to further enhance our
branch’s performance. I take this
opportunity to thank all my team
members who were committed to
achieve the branch’s mission. They have
always displayed highest standards of
customer service and quality.
Nabil Tayyeb Khoory
Executive Manager
Sheikh Zayed Road Branch
BEST HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT:
Administration
We in the Administration Department, as a service support unit,
are well aware of the importance of consistent service and follow
our common criteria which is to perform continuously at a high
level in areas such as responsiveness, communication, focus on
quality, problem solving and team work.
This award signifies that our committed team members have
been giving continuous attention to challenges that may arise,
resolving them before they impact schedule. We always believe that
schedule is crucial and we work hard to maintain it.
We believe that our whole team that has truly extended its
support and assistance is the winner of this award and we aim to
sustain the same year after year.
Mahmoud Khalifa
Deputy Manager, Administration
Mr K. Gopalan receives the award for Best Headquarters
Department
7
New CBD Branches
Construction has begun at
the new Ajman Branch
Construction of the new Ajman Project has
begun in a busy commercial district of Ajman
in Al Bustan area opposite to our existing
branch. The project is a 10-storey building
comprising of 216,291sq ft; the total value of
the project being AED48 million.
Basement levels feature car parking areas as
well as mechanical and fire fighting facilities.
The ground level will be fully occupied by the
branch, with a total area of 11,150sq ft. Levels 1
and 2 have been designated for offices, with
separate access, and a lettable area of 20,000sq ft.
Levels 3 to 10 will comprise a total of 64 units.
The project work started at the beginning
of 2004 and is scheduled for completion by
the last quarter of 2005.
Meanwhile, the refurbishing of Abu Dhabi
Branch, Al Maktoum Branch and Ras Al
Khaimah Branch have begun. The general
ambience of the branches will be addressed
with interior design work to live up to the
expectations of a wide variety of our customers.
The Bank opens a New
Branch in Al Awir
Design preparation has been completed
and we are currently in the process of
tendering. Work has already begun and is
slated for completion by the end of 2004.
In its efforts to boost and develop its services to
eventually cover the various parts of the UAE,
CBD opened its 13th branch in Dubai located at
the New Fruit & Vegetable Market in Al Awir,
mounting its branch network to 19 branches and
4 cash offices spread across the UAE.
The new Branch is characterized by its unique
location in the Heart of Al Awir, its architectural
design and the usage of hi-tech systems to improve
the level of performance and enable the bank to
meet customer expectations. In addition to vast
parking spaces for customers.
The opening of the new branch comes in line
with a plan adopted by the bank to expand its
network in different parts of UAE to provide a
variety of banking services to its customers
including Accounts, Credit Cards, Personal Loans,
Fixed Deposits, “Mustaqbali” Child Savings Plan,
“Najah” program for Professionals in addition to
24 hour ATM service.
Mr. Abdul Wahab Galadari was appointed as the
Manager of Al Awir Branch.
Al Musaffah Branch
Al Musaffah Branch has a good future thanks to its location, which is
surrounded by different industrial
companies spread over the area. There is
great opportunity to cover their
requirements and offer them retail
banking to meet their needs.
Zahir Mohammed
Manager, Al Musaffah Branch
8
New CBD Database
Infrastructure Powers Up
In line with its commitment to satisfy
work requirements and ambitions, the
bank successfuly changed to a new,
improved database infrastructure system.
This step allows the bank to enter an
advanced era in banking services, and
enhance its operational efficiency, as
well as allowing the management to make
decisions based on accurate data, and
provide new and creative services. The
application of this system reflects the
bank’s consistent policy to make use of
the latest technologies in supporting and
developing its services and facilities,
and achieving higher performance
efficiency levels.
Mahmoud Hadi, Assistant General
Manager, Systems and Operations said:
“The change of any bank’s operation
system presents a big challenge. CBD
stood up to the challenge, with God's
grace and the dedication of its staff,
without affecting the bank's clients."
He added: “Our selection of the new
system came from International Turnkey
Systems, and was based on a thorough
study of many international systems, and
comparisons to other banks’ experience
in this field in the country and other GCC
countries. The new system makes possible
important facilities in a number of fields
such as relation management systems,
financial reports, management decision
support systems, as well as supporting all
(L-R): Michael Mathew, Roland D'Souza, Amir Afzal, Mahmoud Hadi, Mumtaz Khan,
Varadhan Ramdurai, K.V. Sukumaran
main operations and processing the
bank’s data. The system is also flexible
enough to allow the connection of
specified functions.”
Hadi continued: “The new system will
give us the chance to upgrade our
services, and will allow us to move faster
towards the advanced electronic services
stage and effective response to the latest
in the international markets, in order to
develop new banking products that
satisfy the demands of e-commerce and
Internet banking. The application of the
new system also reflected upon speeding
up administration operations in the
bank, and reducing the time required
to perform transactions, as well as
cutting down its costs, which gives us
more time to concentrate on our
clients’ requirements.”
Learning
the E-Way
Kamal Bakri, Manager, Training and
Development, Commercial Bank of
Dubai, and Nadeem Younis, Country
General Manager – HUMANSOFT,
have signed an agreement to deliver
e-learning training to employees of
the bank.
CBD will receive a licence for
HUMANSOFT's e-learning solution,
which will be utilised to deliver 117
courses in Professional Business and
Information Technology to all staff
members of the bank.
9
Eye on Performance
“What gets measured, gets done. And what gets
recognised, gets done best.”
Performance measurement is key to any
organisation and serves three vital roles. For
senior management it serves as a digital
cockpit to monitor the progress of business.
It also serves as an effective management
tool and as a feedback mechanism to
identifying areas for improvement.
For the purpose of measuring
performance, one may categorise an
organisation into three levels: the
strategic (corporate) level, the
functional/operational (department) level
and the individual level. In most
organisations, there is some disconnect
between these three tiers. A company may
have a grandly worded mission statement.
However, sometimes it is not converted
into actionable plans; that is, it is not
‘operationalised’. The second common
disconnect occurs when the strategy is
not cascaded seamlessly to department or
functional level in regards to business
plans. This usually occurs when the
budget is worked out without linking it to
strategy. The third disconnect normally
takes place when a department level plan
is not distributed adequately amongst the
team members – in other words, the
employees’ objectives.
Another dimension to consider
carefully is to ensure whether the
corporate level goals or department-level
plans are well rounded and wholesome.
The objectives should have a healthy mix
of ‘lead’ and ‘lag’ indicators, ‘soft’ as well
as ‘hard’ performance indicators. The
targets should be a mix of both financial
and non-financial in nature. The
‘excellence’ model divides the
organisational performance measurement
framework into ‘enablers’ and ‘results’.
The discipline of Balanced Scorecard
shows how to measure organisational
performance in four categories:
Financial: To succeed financially, how
should the company look to the
shareholders/ investors? Some examples
are net profit, sales volumes, operating
costs and bad debts.
Customer: To achieve the company’s
goals, how should the company appear to
the customers? Some examples include
customer satisfaction level, complaints and
compliments, service turnaround times,
product attraction and customers lost.
Internal Processes (Efficiency): To
satisfy the shareholders, investors,
customers and employees, what processes
‘Capital Intelligence’
Upgrade CBD Credit Rating
In an independent report, Capital
Intelligence (CI), a well renowned rating
agency, issued grading on CBD’s
performance and standing. The report
states: “CBD is one of the most profitable
banks in the UAE and has maintained its
strong earnings over time. The foreign
currency long-term is affirmed at A-, the
short term at A2, Financial Strength at A,
Support at 2 and Outlook at stable.
However, CI have upgraded the
Sovereign Ceiling rating of Long Term
to A+ from A and the Short Term to
A1 from A2.”
The detailed assessment went on to rate
several more of the bank’s qualifications,
including the following:
10
Asset Quality: CBD’s asset quality
has been consistently good,
underscoring the conservative credit
policies, which stress secured lending,
and its strong customer base comprising
many of the best business houses in the
emirate of Dubai.
Capital Adequacy: CBD has consistently
maintained its capital adequacy ratio at a
high level.
Liquidity: Is well managed, although
the credit expansion of recent years has
tightened key ratios.
Profitability: CBD is one of the most
profitable banks in the UAE, and it
has turned in consistently good
performances.
should the company excel at? Measures
may include time to market, turnaround
times, productivity levels and internal
customer satisfaction levels.
Learning and Growth (People): To
achieve the company’s mission, how
should the management sustain the
employee’s ability to change and
improve? Some measures could be
employee satisfaction level, staff
turnover rate, absenteeism and
performance levels.
Commercial Bank of Dubai has been
successfully utilising the Balanced
Scorecard to effectively translate its
mission and strategy into operational
terms, enabling its performance to be
measured, tracked and improved. Its
success was also shared with the audience
at last year’s Share Best Practice seminar
held at Dubai Chamber of Commerce and
Industry under the auspices of the Quality
and Business Excellence unit of the
Department of Economic Development.
Performance measurement is a vast and
complex subject, and plays an essential
role in allowing senior management to
ensure the organisation is always
performing at peak levels.
Definition of the Ratings
Foreign and Local Currency Ratings [A-]:
High credit quality. Strong capacity for
timely fulfilment of financial obligations.
Possesses many favourable credit
characteristics but may be vulnerable
slightly to adverse changes in business,
economic and financial conditions.
Short Term Issuer Ratings [A2]: Very
strong capacity for timely repayment but may
be affected slightly by unexpected adversities.
Financial Strength Ratings [A]: Strong
financial fundamentals and very
favourable non-financial considerations.
Operating environment may be unstable
but institution’s market position and / or
financial strength more than compensate.
Support Ratings [2]: Government
support extremely likely despite absence of
written guarantee. There may be some
uncertainty regarding the state’s willingness
or ability to provide support. A private bank
which has extremely strong ownership.
Nationals
Inducted
23 UAE nationals were welcomed into the
CBD family through an Induction
Programme at our state-of-the-art Training
Centre. They were given a good grounding
in elements of basic banking, and hands on
experience in our dummy branch.
The inductees have since been placed in
various HQ Depts and branches for on-thejob training to reinforce what they have
learned in the induction course. Their
performance and progress are supervised not
only by the Manager/Supervisor but also
monitored and mentored by the TDC.
The bank’s endeavour is to Emiratise its work
force in a planned, organised and methodical
way, without compromising on quality.
Adapting to a
Multinational
Workplace
By SS Abbas Zaidi
Manager, Career Development Dept
The UAE hosts
multicultural
communities. When we
look around our
workplace, we see people
from many different
cultures and nationalities. In order to
work together we need to have respect for
diversity. Being culture-sensitive does not
mean that we have to give up our
Taking
Control of
Your Career
By Sameeha Al Blooshi
Assistant Manager, Career Development Dept
Success in your career lies
in your hands and in your
inner strength to realise
your dreams, ambitions
and hopes in today’s
demanding and ever-
principles/values/traditions and beliefs.
On the contrary, it is to recognise the
cultural differences, to adapt to them and
use them for achieving organisational
goals and objectives successfully.
BEHAVIOUR TIPS
• Build teams that include employees
from various cultures and nationalities.
Build on the strengths and work styles of
each team member.
• Establish a climate where employees feel
comfortable being themselves. This
includes speaking one’s own language.
• In cultures where status is related to age,
seniority or gender, try to appoint
supervisors/managers that would fit
local expectations.
• In large groups where all speak Arabic
comfortably, suggest Arabic as the
language of use. However individuals
charging work environment you must
take charge of managing your own career.
TIPS FOR CAREER ADVANCEMENT
• Set your ultimate goal.
• Keep in mind that no one will make
more efforts than you do in advancing
your career.
• Prepare a list of your strengths and
weaknesses. Plan how to maximise
your strengths and minimise your
weaknesses.
• Look for opportunities and work out
ways by which you can exploit them.
• Understand bank’s policies and
culture, and identify yourself
with them.
should be free to use their own
language when helpful for clear
communications. This information
should be translated back into Arabic
for the larger group.
• When Arabic speaking customers are
present, foreign language conversations
between employees are best avoided. This
is also true of Arabic language
conversations going on when foreign
language speaking customers are present.
• Men and women, whites and blacks,
Arabs and non- Arabs, middle class and
working class people are different, but
they are not as much different as they
are alike. An appreciation and
acceptance of commonalities and
differences are essential to an effective
working relationship.
• Remember that “different” does not
mean “wrong”.
• Produce high-quality work. Make the
right impressions – in terms of
ability, hard work and willingness
to cooperate.
• Take advantage of training and
development opportunities, especially
the mentoring initiative that the bank
has taken. This is the best instrument
of guidance and support. Try to learn
from your mentor’s experience.
• Make yourself visible but don’t
project yourself as a know-all.
• Develop good personal relationships.
• Help your manager/supervisor
succeed. He/she is your best advocate.
• Recognise that there is no substitute
for self-development.
11
CBD Invites ‘Mustaqbali’ Clients
to Meet ‘Modhesh’
CBD, in
co-operation
with the Department of
Economic Development,
invited their Mustaqbali
account holders to meet
Modhesh at CBD
headquarters as
part of the
“Back-to
School” week
during the Dubai
Summer Surprises. The bank’s employees and
their children, in addition to the
representatives of the Department of
Economic Development, also attended the
event.
Seeing the kids in the main branch for the
first time was a rewarding new experience for
all as they enjoyed the different segments and
surprises of the evening. They were also
presented with a brief on saving and its vital
role in the future of families.
Dhabya Al Suwaidi, Head of the Back-toSchool Surprises committee, stressed CBD’s
participation in Dubai Summer Surprises
through the “Imagine your future…and draw
it” competition which encourages children to
adopt an optimistic view of their future and
help them develop their skills and talents and
aid them in the process of fulfilling their
dreams and aspirations.
The event consisted of a fun-filled
programme with a variety of children’s games
and balloon twisting. At the end of the evening,
each child was handed a souvenir gift to show
the appreciation of the bank, in addition to
inviting them to enjoy the large buffet.
12
From Left to right: Shamsa Al Suwaidi, Dhabya Buti Al Suwaidi, Hassan Ali Hassan,
Badr Soueidan, Adel Dasmal, Nasser Al Zahed and Ahmed Yousuf
Thank you...
George
In July 2004, George
Boursalian, Executive
Manager, International Banking, left the
CBD family to retire to the United States.
Below is his parting letter. We wish Mr
Boursalian and his family the best of health
and prosperity. He will be missed.
Dear colleagues,
I am writing to inform you that after fifty
five years of working, with almost forty
years in banking, I have decided to fully
enjoy my family and pursue all the
activities that I could not pursue while
working. I will be leaving to the USA after
fifteen wonderful years in Dubai with this
great bank of ours, the Commercial Bank
of Dubai.
Punching
for Charity
As part of CBD’s mission to be socially
responsible, the bank recently
co-sponsored the Punching Marathon,
organised by Wing Tsun Centre for
body fitness and self defence in
association with Medicines Sans
Frontieres and Al Noor Centre for
Children with Special Needs and
was held at Burjuman Centre.
The marathon lasted for eight hours
during which time the eight members
belonging to the WT team had to
punch for eight hours non-stop with
the aim of achieving four to five
punches per second.
Fatma Safar won the
bronze medal in the
Chess Championship
Congratulations go out to CBD’s
Fatma Safar, Main Branch staff,
who recently participated in the
King Abdulla Chess Championship
organised by Higher Education
Sports Union and chaired by
Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan.
The competition took place from
I leave this great country and great
Bank with a sadness that is tempered by
the knowledge that I will always hear
news of progress and prosperity.
I have been blessed with excellent health
throughout and have had such a fulfilling
life. My time with Commercial Bank of
Dubai has been a professionally rewarding,
enriching and exciting experience. To live
in Dubai, to share the vision of its people
and to see where Dubai is headed has been
gratifying. Commercial Bank of Dubai is a
great bank and it has been my pleasure to
serve this organisation and although I am
going to personal pursuits, I will always
miss CBD, but most certainly I will miss
close friends like you. You have been my
family, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters.
I would like to thank you for the friendship
over the years.
I promise you that I will continue to be
active and productive. I strongly believe that
we do not stop working because we are old;
we grow old because we stop working. I also
Hassan Al Redha, owner of the WT
Centre and Deputy Manager of the
International Banking Department
said: “Multiple punches or chain
punches are an integral part of the
Chinese martial art taught at Wing
Tsun Centre. This is where the idea of
the Punching Marathon came from”.
Al Redha thanked CBD and all the
other sponsors for supporting the
marathon which raised up to
AED28,000.
25 April to 4 May 2004, in Jordan.
“This was my first overseas
participation in Jordan,” said Safar.
“Nine countries competed and we won
the bronze medal at Arab countries level,
coming after Algeria and Jordan.”
believe that a turn in the road is not the end
of the road unless we fail to make a turn.
My deepest gratitude is to those who
have kindly shared their knowledge, their
thoughts, their prayers and their
experiences with me. I owe much to them
for their kindness, generosity and
friendship.I take this opportunity to wish
the Commercial Bank of Dubai, ‘Our
Bank’, continued progress, and you my
colleagues, every success and happiness in
your professional and family life.
George E. Boursalian
Supporting
Schools
The Commercial Bank of Dubai donated
the latest equipment required for the
computer room in Mushairef Model
School. Marwan Ibrahim, Manager of
Ajman Branch, handed the cheque to
Abdulla Obaid, Manager of Ajman
Educational Territory, in the presence of
Muna Al Sheiba the School Principal and
Rafia Al Shamsi, Customer Service
Officer at Ajman Branch.
Marwan said: “This donation reflects
the bank's social commitment, together
with its success, leadership and total
understanding of its responsibilities
towards society."
Abdulla Obaid praised the bank’s
initiative in this generous donation to the
school and other centers. He also added
that this initiative deserves gratitude,
urging other economic institutions to
follow suite, saying that the development
and modernization of society can be
achieved by many factors, including
charity and volunteer work.
13
Looking back, thinking forward
When will power becomes the path to
ambition, honesty the path to work, and
hard work the path to achieving one’s
goals, success materialises, excellence
crystallises and creativity emerges. At
such point, genius turns from individual
experience into a collective situation that
establishes altruism and responsibility as
the norms of everyday life; norms that
drive man from one success to another
through resolution to achieve more.
This sums up the success of Juma’a
Khalfan Balhool, the first doctor to
graduate in Dubai. A success story that
pairs hard work and joy, ambition and will.
“I thank God for being one of the lucky
generation of locals who had the
opportunity to pursue their education,”
says Dr Balhool. “At that time, Kuwait
provided secondary and higher education
scholarships for many students in the
country. From the early stages of my
education, I had been interested in
science, especially biology. This interest
culminated in a scholarship to study
medicine. Thanks to the support of the
late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al
Maktoum, the former ruler of Dubai, and
HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al
Maktoum, the then Crown Prince of
Dubai, I went to a boarding school in
Qatar for five years where I finished the
preparatory studies and the first two years
of the secondary phase.”
The last year of Dr Balhool’s secondary
education were spent in Al Shoyokhe
School in Kuwait, where he received his
high school certificate. The late Sheikh
Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum and
Sheikh Maktoum continued their
support, and Dr Balhool was awarded a
scholarship to study medicine in Cairo
University in the academic year 1962-63,
and graduated in 1969.
14
“For my father, who provided me with
all the moral and financial support he
could afford, it was a dream come true,”
he says. “He was so proud that one of his
children had become a doctor. This was
another motive for me to commit myself
to the healthcare system in the country.”
Medicine has been Dr Balhool’s only
profession since his graduation. He began
in the public service, what he likes to
describe as “a drive of duty no citizen
with the meagre sense of belonging could
ignore”. He continues: “It was a great stage
of my life when the country was a melting
pot for the youth’s enthusiasm and the
elders’ experience. In those years we
witnessed the establishment of a modern
country where traditions of fathers and
energy of youngsters met to form a scene
that combined past and present.
“Our forbears were with values and
proud of traditions; values, not money,
were the parameter of wealth. Living
among them and attending their events
were real schools that offered knowledge
and experience of life for youngsters. We
learned from them how to depend on
ourselves, acquire self-confidence, love
our homeland and people, be proud of
our traditions, and respect our forbears.
“Knowing very well the hardships of
life in those early years, we, the
youngsters, were doing our best not to
add to the burden of our fathers. The sea
was our natural choice to achieve this: it
had always been the source of income for
our people, even wealth in some cases”
The youngsters would hire boats from
boat-owners to go fishing and would then
divide the yields between them, explains
the doctor. Another source of pocket
money was to quarry rocks from the
seabed. “One after another we piled up
rocks like pyramids on the beach to sell
them at the end of the day to those who
wanted to use them in building,” he
reminisces. “One of our regular customers
was the late Abdul Latif Al Bassam. It was
a way to ease the burden of our families.”
Dr Balhool tells an interesting tale about
the early months of regular education under
the supervision of the Kuwaiti Ministry of
Education, which at the time was providing
schools here with schoolbooks and
stationary.“Hashim Abu Amara was the
representative sent by the Kuwaiti Ministry
of Education to run the regular education in
the country. He was a hardworking teacher
and enthusiastic Arabist in an eventful era in
the Arab world. Some student
demonstrations took place in Bur Dubai
and Deira from time to time. And Abu
Amara was the scapegoat whom the British
authorities in the country accused of
masterminding the demonstrations. Abu
Amara was held in high esteem among
students and many of them refused to
resume study at Al Ahmadya School,
preferring to move to a boarding school in
Qatar when the British deported him. The
late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum
and his then crown prince supported the
choice of the students.”
Defining the basis of his successful
career, Dr Balhool points to his deep faith
in God and self-confidence as the most
important factors. “The sense of
responsibility towards God, my people,
my country and my family provided me
with everlasting drive to stick to
hardwork and contentment. My father
always told me to be my own master.”
‘Our forbears were with values
and proud of traditions; values,
not money, were the parameter
of wealth. We learned from
them how to depend on
ourselves, acquire
self-confidence, love our
homeland and people, be proud
of our traditions, and respect
our forbears.’